Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an intelligent dispensing system for a clothes dryer and more particularly to the efficient dispensing of water and other chemistries onto fabric articles during the drying cycle.
Description of the Related Art
Contemporary clothes dryer construction includes a cabinet that houses a stationary tub and a rotatable drum mounted within the tub that defines a fabric treatment chamber. A motor is usually coupled to the drum to control rotation of the drum. Both the tub and the drum share an access opening that may be selectively closed by a door. The motor can rotate the drum at various speeds and in opposite rotational directions. A clothes dryer may also include a venting system for circulating air within the drum and venting air to the exterior of the clothes dryer.
Some clothes dryers include a dispensing system for dispensing chemistry or water inside the clothes dryer. For example, a clothes dryer may include a dispenser to spray water, fabric softeners or other fluids into the drum during a drying cycle to prevent wrinkles from forming. As a result of this trend, the ability to accurately and efficiently dispense chemistry inside a clothes dryer is becoming a critical enabler behind increasing overall machine performance and consumer satisfaction.
One problem with the current dryer dispensing systems is the non-uniformity of the chemistry coverage on the fabric articles during dispensing of the chemistry. The current systems often spray the chemistry directly onto the fabric articles, which can lead to non-uniform coverage of the fabric and an inefficient dispensing system. Additionally, since the venting system and the drum are controlled by a single, shared motor, the blower is always actuated when the drum is tumbling. As a result, suspended chemistry particles are vented to the exterior of the machine. The non-uniformity conditions and venting of chemistry usually requires manufacturers to compensate by spraying more chemistry onto the fabric than is necessary. This increase in chemistry may lead to an undesirable stronger than expected scented fabric as well as expensive chemistry waste. Therefore, an improvement over the prior art would be a dispensing system that can provide a uniform application of chemistry onto fabric articles, thereby increasing the efficiency of the dispensing system.
Another problem with prior art dryer dispensing systems is related to clogging of the dispensing system. When chemistries are dispensed into the drum during the drying cycle, the chemistry solvent is driven off. Any residue inside the dispensing nozzle tends to thicken, which can lead to clogging in the dispensing system. Thus, an improvement over the prior art would be a dispensing system that is able to prevent clogging or detect clogging and clean out the system as necessary.
Additionally, current dryer dispensing systems are not intelligent dispensing systems. Typically, the dispensing system is programmed to dispense a fluid at pre-determined times during the drying cycle, but the dispensing system is not able to sense the operating environment and adapt the dispensing mode accordingly. Furthermore, current dryer dispensing systems dispense each type of chemistry in the same manner. However, the optimal dispensing mode may vary depending on the chemistry being dispensed. Therefore, a further improvement over the prior art would be to provide a multitude of spray patterns and flows that react variably according to machine parameters, operating conditions, chemistry type and cycle options.